Anyone that knows early 90s rap music knows that 'The Chronic' is really a basic guide to life and making it in this world. Everything I needed to know about survival on the hardcore suburban streets I learned from listening to Dr Dre and 'The Chronic' album back in the early 90s. I didn't know it at the time but, Dre and Snoop lyrics were like the gangster rap version of today's motivational speeches by Les Brown and Tony Robbins.

There's a few basic concepts one can take from "The Chronic" album lyrics and apply to life in order to succeed. Two of them deal with not falling in love with people who have reckless promiscuous tendencies, but I don't have enough time to get into the depth of those concepts with you in this article.The main important one is 'if you don't know you better ask somebody'-that's really all you need to know to make it in this world today. If you need to know something, you have to ask-and when you do you need to ask an expert at that subject matter like Dr. Dre.

Last night, Inside MMA on HDNet needed to know who the best boxers in MMA were and they went straight to an expert on that subject to find out. It was an ode to boxing night on Inside MMA with featured guests- WBA/WBC middleweight champ Andre Ward and trainer extraordinaire Freddie Roach. The two sat down and talked boxing and MMA with Bas and Kenny, and even gave some input on how a boxing match between Anderson Silva and GSP might go down. Freddie even revealed his opinion on who he thinks are the top five boxers in all of MMA.

5. KJ Noons- "I just love his tenacity in the ring. He comes to fight and he's all about action."

4. Nick Diaz- "Just in terms of what he brings to us, he's a beast. His stand-up is awesome…I like Nick Diaz. The guy comes straight at you. If he ever chose to stop fighting MMA and go to boxing, he's one of the main guys that I think could be successful."

3. BJ Penn- "One of the best strikers I've been in the ring with."

2. GSP- "Because I show him a move, he comes back with it—he knows it the next day. You know he practiced all night in the mirror. I love that. He's a hard worker."

1. Anderson Silva- "He is one of the best guys who really understands distance and timing. He fights off the ropes a little bit. I told him that can be a little dangerous at times...he'll suck you in, he'll set you up. He's one of the most intelligent fighters I've ever worked with."

There it is, the top five boxers according to one of the greatest boxing trainers of all time, Mr. Freddie Roach. As Dr. Dre would say, 'If you don't know, now you know...' Here's a clip from the show of Freddie and Andre talking about a fantasy boxing match between GSP and Anderson Silva.

The author needs a lesson in hip-hop. It was Biggie who said "if ya don't know, now ya know", not Dr Dre.

I guess I agree with the list for the most part, but it's not really a surprise because he's trained all of those guys except for Diaz. It's kinda funny, because Freddie said a few months ago that Nick Diaz isn't a good boxer, here is the video. It's also funny because Freddie gave his list of boxers who could come into MMA and be successful and he had Pacquiao at number one.

If we are just talking about taking 5 guys from MMA and sticking them in the sport of "boxing", I don't think there is any doubt that those 5 guys would be in the discussion. KJ Noons and Anderson Silva have actually competed on the pro-level in boxing (even though Silva only had a couple fights years ago and really wasn't nearly who he is today). Marcus Davis has a 17-1 pro boxing record, and even though I know he just retired I would have to throw Chris Lytle in the mix too. There are some other guys from MMA that I could picture in boxing, with varying levels of success, like Rashad, Rampage, Jones, and Dos Santos.

The author needs a lesson in hip-hop. It was Biggie who said "if ya don't know, now ya know", not Dr Dre.

You pwned him, JB. I thought the first 2 paragraphs were superfluous but that's just me.

I immediately thought of JDS as well. But I agree that Marcus and Chris Lytle should be right up there too. I notice Chris is still listed on the UFC's welterweight roster which got me thinking maybe his retirement wasn't written in stone. I'd love to see him in the octagon again although his last fight before retirement was about as perfect a way to end his career as a fan could wish for. Just my 2 cents...

The author needs a lesson in hip-hop. It was Biggie who said "if ya don't know, now ya know", not Dr Dre.

I guess I agree with the list for the most part, but it's not really a surprise because he's trained all of those guys except for Diaz. It's kinda funny, because Freddie said a few months ago that Nick Diaz isn't a good boxer, here is the video. It's also funny because Freddie gave his list of boxers who could come into MMA and be successful and he had Pacquiao at number one.

If we are just talking about taking 5 guys from MMA and sticking them in the sport of "boxing", I don't think there is any doubt that those 5 guys would be in the discussion. KJ Noons and Anderson Silva have actually competed on the pro-level in boxing (even though Silva only had a couple fights years ago and really wasn't nearly who he is today). Marcus Davis has a 17-1 pro boxing record, and even though I know he just retired I would have to throw Chris Lytle in the mix too. There are some other guys from MMA that I could picture in boxing, with varying levels of success, like Rashad, Rampage, Jones, and Dos Santos.

yeah, gonna have to agree with you ... i'd take diaz and gsp off the list .. rampage, dos santos, i think lil nog got a gold medal for brazil in some type of games, so he'd be up there ..

i don't think so .. he just comes forward and throws ... beats you with quantity and cuz he can take a shot, its hard for his opponent to back him up ... a good counter puncher (like what condit did), would beat him (like condit did)

i don't think so .. he just comes forward and throws ... beats you with quantity and cuz he can take a shot, its hard for his opponent to back him up ... a good counter puncher (like what condit did), would beat him (like condit did)

LMFAO even if I was stupid enough to believe Condit is a "good counter" puncher Condit won off stupid judging of kicks..

i don't think so .. he just comes forward and throws ... beats you with quantity and cuz he can take a shot, its hard for his opponent to back him up ... a good counter puncher (like what condit did), would beat him (like condit did)

First off, I gotta say that what Condit did with leg-kicks in an MMA fight is hardly the same as what a truly great counter puncher like Mayweather would do in a boxing match or even what a great counter striker like Anderson Silva would do in an MMA match. Although, you are correct that Diaz is a volume puncher who likes to come right at his opponents, Condit wasn't really utilizing a lot of great head/shoulder movement to dodge Nick and set up crisp counter punches. His game was centered around setting up with leg kicks, taking open shots, and not standing in front of Nick (or as some like to call it "tap and lap"). It was a great gameplan, and obviously it won Carlos the fight (even though I scored it for Diaz like a lot of other people).

I wouldn't take Diaz or GSP off the list, but I wouldn't say that either of them, or any of the guys listed would actually make it to the highest levels in the sport of boxing if they decided to jump over from MMA. It's not impossible, but not likely either. At best, they would probably just generate some interest because of their popularity in MMA, fight a few no-names or an aging veteran for a big paycheck, and that would be it.

Some people like to think Boxing is "dead" or "dying" because it's not as popular as it once was here in the U.S., but the truth is boxing is a global sport just as MMA has become ,and there are a lot of great boxers all over the world. To think that any MMA fighter would be able to have great success in Boxing just because punches are thrown in MMA and they use smaller gloves is nonsense. Most high level boxers start training as kids and the reason they call it the "sweet science" is because there really is a science to it. Anybody who steps in a cage or a ring is obviously a tough SOB, but 9 out of 10 of fighters from either sport would be completely out of their element the moment they tried to cross-over.